Chapter 12 : Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Seizing the Qi-Blood Pill
After the group led by the middle-aged man in purple left Myriad Treasures Pavilion,
they did not linger in the prefectural city for even a moment, but rode straight out through the gates.
Completely unbeknownst to them, however, carrying such a great treasure had already made them targets.
They sped along at breakneck pace.
Before long, it was deep into the night.
The group arrived before a deserted little temple.
Looking at the horses beneath them, panting heavily, the old man beside the middle-aged man in purple said, “Family Head, shall we rest for a while? If we keep running like this, the horses will probably run themselves to death.”
The middle-aged man in purple considered it. If the horses truly collapsed from exhaustion, that would only delay their journey even more.
So he nodded.
But he still said, “We can only rest for half an hour. We must return to the clan as quickly as possible. Only once we are back within the clan can we truly be safe.”
At his nod, the others all let out breaths of relief.
They took out the water and dry rations they had brought with them and sat on the ground, eating ravenously.
The middle-aged man in purple, however, had no mood to eat.
He walked off to one side and sat down on a smooth stone, carefully taking the sandalwood box containing the Qi-Blood Pill from his robes.
Looking at that sandalwood box, the middle-aged man in purple’s gaze became slightly dazed.
He was already beginning to grow impatient.
Unfortunately, now was not yet the time.
At some unknown moment, a chill wind began to rise.
The moon overhead vanished behind the clouds.
The harsh, shrill cries of crows suddenly rang out in the silent night sky, and an overwhelming sense of unease surged in his heart.
He swept his gaze across the surroundings.
At this moment, it felt to him as though the boundless darkness itself had already been enveloped in a chilling killing intent.
The hair all over his body stood on end.
“We can’t stay in this place.”
The middle-aged man in purple rose to his feet and turned, preparing to call the others to leave at once.
But the instant he turned, his body froze.
Ahead of him, an eerie figure had appeared at some unknown moment.
The figure stood with both hands behind his back, facing away from him.
Then he looked toward his companions—
only to see them sprawled across the ground in disordered heaps, their eyes wide open and their bodies motionless, plainly dead.
Great beads of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
“Who are you, Your Excellency?”
Forcefully suppressing the fear in his heart, the middle-aged man in purple asked in a trembling voice.
The figure let out a light chuckle.
Then he slowly turned around, revealing a refined and handsome face.
“Family Head Su, are you no longer able to recognize me so soon?”
The moment he saw the man’s face clearly, the middle-aged man in purple was stunned. He blurted out, “Li Xingge? How could it possibly be you?”
How could he not recognize that face?
Even if it were reduced to ashes, he would still know it.
And so the identity of this middle-aged man in purple became obvious as well.
He was none other than Su Zhe, Family Head of the Mangshan Su Clan.
“What do you want? Li Xingge, the Old Ancestor of my Su family is not dead yet!”
Su Zhe barked, trying to sound fierce while inwardly afraid.
He knew very well that the fact Li Xingge had appeared here meant he was already in danger.
Now, all he could do was hope that his clan’s Old Ancestor could intimidate Li Xingge.
But he also knew that was almost impossible.
Because the two families had long since become mortal enemies who could not coexist.
“Family Head Su, I always thought you were a clever man. But now it seems I was mistaken. Hand it over, and I’ll leave you an intact corpse.”
Li Xingge said with a smile.
“In your dreams!”
Su Zhe was both shocked and furious. How had Li Xingge known that he was carrying the Qi-Blood Pill?
Then, all at once, realization struck him.
His eyes widened as he said, “You were the one in Room Twenty-Nine of the Earth Wing?”
Li Xingge smiled and nodded.
“Damn you. How did you know my movements?”
Su Zhe asked with an ugly expression.
To protect the interests of its guests, Myriad Treasures Pavilion kept both their identities and their movements strictly confidential.
And at that thought, Su Zhe arrived at a possibility.
Grinding his teeth, he snarled, “It was Myriad Treasures Pavilion. It had to be Myriad Treasures Pavilion. Damn them—they broke their own rules!”
It had to be Myriad Treasures Pavilion. They had surely leaked his identity and movements to Li Xingge.
Naturally, Myriad Treasures Pavilion had no intention of smashing its own signboard.
But Li Xingge had no intention of telling him that he had a cheat.
“If you want the Qi-Blood Pill, then forget it.”
As Family Head of the Su clan, Su Zhe understood very clearly just how powerful a Qi-Blood Realm cultivator was.
Even for a Physical Body Realm Perfection expert like himself, escaping from beneath the nose of a Qi-Blood Realm cultivator was nothing short of fantasy.
And since escape was hopeless...
He looked at the sandalwood box in his hand and clenched his teeth.
“If you want the Qi-Blood Pill, then forget it!”
Both his hands abruptly exerted force, attempting to crush the sandalwood box and destroy the Qi-Blood Pill within.
Naturally, Li Xingge was not about to stand by and watch.
He let out a cold snort.
His figure shot out like a phantom, and when he appeared again, he was already before Su Zhe.
One palm struck out, landing heavily on Su Zhe’s chest.
Su Zhe’s body was blasted straight backward, only stopping when he slammed violently into a stone wall.
He struggled to climb back to his feet.
But all at once, his vision went black.
Li Xingge had planted one foot squarely on Su Zhe’s face. A man like Su Zhe—pampered, powerful, and accustomed to high station—had never suffered such humiliation in his life.
At that moment, Su Zhe wished only that he could die immediately.
“Li Xingge, you will die a miserable death!”
Su Zhe said with a face full of venom.
Li Xingge slowly crouched down, smiling as he said, “Stepping on a man’s face really is satisfying.”
He looked at the sandalwood box, still clenched tightly in Su Zhe’s hand, and his eyes gleamed.
Then, one by one, he snapped Su Zhe’s fingers and took the sandalwood box into his own hand.
“Now it’s mine.”
Li Xingge said with an innocent smile.
When Su Zhe saw the sandalwood box in Li Xingge’s hand,
his eyes split wide with rage.
His Su clan had emptied its coffers and even mortgaged its mineral vein to buy that Qi-Blood Pill—
only for it to end up benefiting his mortal enemy.
Overcome by fury, Su Zhe continuously coughed up foamy blood. After convulsing a few times, his legs kicked once, and then he stopped breathing.
A generation’s hero, the Family Head of the Mangshan Su Clan, a Physical Body Realm Perfection expert—
had actually been angered to death.
Even Li Xingge was slightly surprised.
Looking at Su Zhe, who had died with his eyes still open and was still staring fixedly at him,
not the slightest ripple rose in Li Xingge’s heart.
He merely shook his head and said, “Your tolerance is far too small. Walk slowly on the road to the Yellow Springs. Very soon, I’ll send your clansmen down to reunite with you. No need to thank me. After all, I’m a good person.”
At some unknown moment, Li Yanzhao had appeared beside Li Xingge.
Looking at Su Zhe’s corpse on the ground, his pupils contracted slightly.
Then he asked, “Family Head, did you get it?”
Li Xingge lifted the sandalwood box in his hand.
Li Yanzhao hurriedly took it, carefully opening the box.
When he saw the round, blood-red pill lying within,
Li Yanzhao could no longer restrain himself. He burst into loud laughter.
“Family Head, that’s right—this is the Qi-Blood Pill! With it, unless something unexpected happens, our Li family will gain yet another Qi-Blood Realm cultivator!”
One clan, two Qi-Blood Realm cultivators—
in the past, Li Yanzhao would not even have dared dream of such a thing.
And now, it was about to become reality.
He looked at the young Family Head beside him, whose features still held a trace of youthful immaturity.
And in him, he seemed to see the future of the Li family.
“Perhaps, under the Family Head’s leadership, the Li family truly can walk out of Baihe County—walk out of Shenglong Prefecture.”